Andrea Koppel: Google chairman's Korea trip was good for the U.S.

By Andrea Koppel

Special to the Mercury News

Posted:
01/18/2013 10:00:00 AM PST

Updated:
01/18/2013 10:50:48 PM PST

It seems like the ultimate irony: Last week the executive chairman of Google -- the company whose motto is "don't be evil" -- traveled to North Korea, one of the last remaining countries in what former President George W. Bush famously called an "axis of evil."

Eric Schmidt and former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson repeatedly declared that this was a private humanitarian visit and not an official Google trip. Criticism has been flung from many corners, including the U.S. government, which called the visit "unhelpful." But the contentious U.S.-North Korean diplomatic relationship should not discourage other tracks of engagement.

There is a long precedent for people outside government -- business leaders, religious figures, aid workers -- engaging in countries that have been ostracized at a policy level. Maintaining these channels of people-to-people engagement, even tenuously, can provide openings for an eventual thaw. Schmidt and Richardson deserve credit for exploring alternate avenues for constructive engagement even as the formal diplomatic front remains blocked.

This was not a naive mission. The delegation observed firsthand the few highlights of the North Korean Internet (fewer than 1,000 users in a country of more than 24 million people) and spoke with the leaders of a minor yet growing segment of the economy. They then conveyed a clear and powerful message to senior government officials that the longer they waited to open up, the tougher it would be for them.

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"It will make it harder for them to catch up economically," Schmidt said. "We made that alternative very, very clear."

Having such a message originate with Google leaders rather than government officials gives it an added dimension of authority and credibility. Schmidt and Richardson's visit has tremendous potential to open more doors for productive American engagement even through the relatively small key hole of technological exchanges, as called for by Schmidt.

One could foresee that an exchange of software developers or computer science professors today could lead to the meeting of Korean families separated by political borders tomorrow, even if it's a virtual meeting via Skype or other technology.

The value of interactions like Schmidt's visit cannot be underestimated.

Mercy Corps has been traveling to and working in North Korea for 15 years, and our engagement thorough humanitarian work, cultural and technical exchanges and regular visits to the country has been constant, transcending the cycles of political chill and thaw. This has maintained a small yet critical open channel of communication between North Koreans and Americans even when high-level channels have been frozen.

Google would not be alone in exploring potential business opportunities in Pyongyang. Companies from Switzerland, Sweden, Australia and others are already capturing previously untapped markets. The Egyptians have cornered the cellular market (more than 1 million cellphones sold in the past two years), while the Chinese are extracting rare earth minerals.

Decades of sanctions and political pressure from the international community have contributed to difficulties for North Korea's people but produced precious little change in the government's behavior. In the long run, this kind of business engagement rather than diplomatic pressure seems most likely to lead to real progress.

Change in North Korea is happening, albeit haltingly, with business and technology as its main drivers. Schmidt's attempt to establish constructive dialogue with the North Korean technology community is admirable from a humanitarian perspective.

It's also good business.

Andrea Koppel is vice president of global engagement and policy at the international humanitarian organization Mercy Corps, www.mercycorps.org. She wrote this for this newspaper.